Other writing

As well as writing crime novels, I continue to write for other media. My television sitcom, After Henry, is, I’m glad to say, currently available on DVD. And its radio incarnation is frequently repeated on the wonderful BBC 7, along with other of my series like No Commitments, Smelling of Roses and Foul Play.

On Radio 4 I am delighted that my actor detective Charles Paris is having a new lease of life, with the wonderful Bill Nighy playing the part in excellent adaptations of my books by Jeremy Front. Some of these are available as BBC Audio Books.

One of my most unusual writing commissions happened a couple of years ago, when I wrote the script for A Story Set in Stone, a son-et-lumière to celebrate nine hundred years of Chichester Cathedral. Though I have always been wary of writing anything set in the past (knowing enough history to know how little I know), the success of that show has encouraged me perhaps to have a go at writing something else with an historical background.

I continue writing an annual short play for the Arundel Festival Drip Action Theatre Trail. My 2010 offering was called The Inner Soprano. I wrote the words and the music was written by my good friend David Hay. (Incidentally, if you're ever looking for a function band, I can heartily recommend David. He played at my 60th Birthday Party in the Groucho Club, my son Jack's Wedding and my mother-in-law Halcyon's 90th Birthday Tea Dance - all brilliant. David Hay is contactable at www.david-hay.co.uk).

A couple of the songs from The Inner Soprano, performed by David and Kate Smith (with non-singing participation for me) are viewable on YouTube. The link to I Can Do That is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrOit_YpRt4
To A Figment of my Imagination the link is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdQ9UQ6iH_M
Watch and - hopefully - enjoy.

So I hope to continue to keep the same variety in the stuff I write. Crime novels are enormous fun, but writing books is a solitary activity. Writing scripts to be performed by actors is much more sociable. So are those moments when I actually do a bit of acting myself. And, like all writers, I do need to get out of the house more!

Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it certainly turns out to be a lively and interesting affair, culminating in an embarrassing confrontation between the obnoxious Willoughby and his ex-lover, followed by a heated argument with the gallery owner and a rival artist. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death. With the police seemingly happy to accept an official verdict of suicide, Fethering residents Carole and Jude remain unconvinced. The victim may have had a history of mental fragility – but why is her mobile phone missing? And who might have taken it? Deciding to investigate further, Carole and Jude soon discover that the answers lead to more questions – and that at least one Fethering resident has a dark secret to hide.